Jared Kushner speaking with attendees at the 2019 Teen Student Action Summit. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
Jared Kushner broke his usual silence his usual silence to fight back against a bombshell Vanity Fair report. Critics say his response only raised more questions.
Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and former senior adviser, went after the magazine on X Wednesday over a book excerpt alleging secret financial dealings. Those include a $1 billion account with Israel’s central bank and payments to a hitman.
“The allegations made by this author are completely insane, categorically false, and never happened,” Kushner wrote. He said he was “one of the most scrutinized people in the world” and had sat through “multiple congressional investigations, and a special counsel investigation” without any of the claims coming up.
He called the excerpt “a mixture of fantasy, fiction, and advocacy, written by someone who is either deeply disturbed or acting with sinister intent.”
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee weren’t impressed.
“Is that so? If your billion-dollar deals with the corrupt oil monarchs in the UAE and Saudi Arabia do not constitute bribery and staggering conflicts of interest, why do you keep dodging all our oversight requests?” the committee’s Democrats wrote. “What exactly are you hiding? Let’s hear how you answer our questions when you’re under oath.”
“Let’s hear you explain how you brought in these billions of dollars from foreign states but it had nothing to do with your government work and position,” they added.
Nelly Decker, a communications staffer for the committee’s Democrats who previously worked for Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas), took on Kushner’s point about the special counsel.
“The special counsel investigation was for his father-in-law’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election, not on Kushner’s business dealings,” Decker wrote. “@HouseJudiciary is still waiting for you to comply with multiple requests. Those investigations have not closed.”
Other observers noticed what Kushner didn’t say. Journalist and author Michael Weiss pointed out that he never threatened to sue.
“Kushner denies the story but does not threaten to take legal action against Cole or Vanity Fair,” Weiss wrote. “Given the gravity of the allegations, that decision will only draw more scrutiny.”
Disability rights advocate James Tate put it more bluntly.
“Sue them then. Discovery should be great,” he wrote.
Even some on the right weren’t buying it. Trisha Hope, a Jan. 6 activist who calls herself a national delegate from Texas, replied: “Whatever Jared.”
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